


Breath of the Forest

by cabbages



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Fluff, Gen, Minor Angst, chanyeol is mentioned but not enough for me to list him as a character lol
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-26
Updated: 2017-08-26
Packaged: 2018-12-20 05:58:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 12,385
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11914653
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cabbages/pseuds/cabbages
Summary: Baekhyun wants to explore the forbidden forest on the edge of town. He leaves Kyungsoo and enters the woods by himself, forcing Kyungsoo to run after him before he gets hurt or in trouble. The only problem: Kyungsoo has asthma and a knack for getting hurt.





	Breath of the Forest

**Author's Note:**

> This fic ended up being a lot longer than I first expected, and maybe took a few turns that I wasn't expecting either XD I apologize if it seems rushed at the end; I was really trying to get this finished and submitted since I was running a few days late ;-;
> 
> I hope the prompter is happy with what I've written and I hope everyone else enjoys!

"Are you sure we're going the right way?" Kyungsoo huffed. He trudged his feet through the dirt, kicking pebbles off the beaten path as he struggled to keep up. The grassy field was relatively flat with just a few decently sized mounds here and there, so it's not like it was the terrain that was the problem. Rather, it was Baekhyun, who insisted on going forward, even after they had been walking for what felt like ages now. Kyungsoo could feel the familiar pressure beginning to build in his chest and he took a few deep breaths as he forced his legs to move faster.  
  


"Slow down!" he hollered. He coughed a few times as he inhaled. "Baekhyun, I really think we should go back now." Baekhyun turned around, giving Kyungsoo a wide grin, eyes squinted against the bright sunlight. With the wind whipping his hair in all directions, he looked like a madman with his arms stretched high into the air and his scrunched up face sporting a mischievous smile.  
  


Without a word he took off to the nearest hill. When he reached the top he turned around and waved. "Look, Soo!" he yelled. He spread his arms out to his side like wings. "I'm gonna fly!"  
  


Kyungsoo rolled his eyes. "That hill isn't tall enough, and besides, you know humans can't fly!" he called back, but either Baekhyun didn't hear him or chose to ignore his words, for the boy took off running down the hill, his laughter and shouts of joy being carried by the wind.  
  


"It's a bird! It's a plane! It's Baekhyun!" He exclaimed, tongue sticking out as he zoomed past, sound effects and all. "Race you to the forest's edge!" Kyungsoo heard him shout, and he watched as Baekhyun made a sharp right. He was headed towards the tree line—there was an entrance to a forest path nearby. They had never entered the woods before, not when their parents and practically everyone else in the village told them not to. The stories they told of the horrors in the forest chilled Kyungsoo to the bone. Bears that could swallow a grown man whole, woods so thick that one wrong turn and you would be lost forever, rumors of a witch that lived so deep amongst the trees that the path that lead to it had grown over completely—there were more that Kyungsoo didn't want to remember. The forest was a scary place, and as such, off limits, which only encouraged him to keep his playtime confined to his backyard or the fields just beyond.  
  


Baekhyun, on the other hand, was curious by nature. He always had the desire to explore and was more independent at thirteen years old than 12-year-old Kyungsoo could ever dream of being when he could finally be considered a teenager. Baekhyun's inquisitiveness often led him to do things he shouldn't: climbing the tree in his front yard to try jumping to the roof of his house (and subsequently falling but miraculously only walking away with a nasty bruise), sticking his hand down a chipmunk hole, picking up a (harmless, though Baekhyun didn't know that at the time) snake and getting bitten, and staying up for three days straight just to see if he could were only a handful of the stupid things Baekhyun had done that got him in trouble. He challenged himself with every new endeavor to do something more reckless and exciting than the last, so when he and Kyungsoo went out to play in the field and he saw the edge of the forbidden woods, he knew where he really wanted to go.  
  


Kyungsoo hesitated. "That's not fair! You know I can't run!" he yelled, but Baekhyun was already too far away to hear him. He watched as Baekhyun's form got smaller and smaller until he was just a small black smudge against the rolling green hills. Kyungsoo looked around, though he knew nobody else had come with them, before groaning and willing his legs to function. He knew he shouldn't go to the forest, he _knew_ , but he couldn't leave Baekhyun to be there all by himself. As annoying as Baekhyun could be sometimes, he was still Kyungsoo's best friend, and best friends always stuck together.  
  


He picked up his pace, flying past the small hills and approaching the edge of the forest. As he reached the beginning of the forest pathway, he slowed to a light jog and eventually to a halt; he then promptly doubled over with his hands on his knees and tried inhaling deeply, but only a small amount of air entered his lungs. His lungs wheezed and sputtered as he exhaled, and inhaling felt like trying to breathe through a straw. Kyungsoo felt in his pocket for his inhaler. When he found nothing, panic seeped into his chest, causing him to breath faster. At this point, his chest was hurting from the sheer amount of effort it took to force air in and out of his lungs.  
  


_Stupid asthma_ , he thought with a frown. He could've sworn he put his inhaler in his pocket before he went out to play. His mother wouldn't have let him outside of the house otherwise. Wheezing, Kyungsoo straightened and outstretched his hand to lean on a tree for support, hoping to catch his breath before he reluctantly entered the forest. Baekhyun was nowhere to be seen on the forest's edge no matter what direction Kyungsoo looked. Thus, there was no other choice but to enter the forbidden land. Kyungsoo made a mental note to kill Baekhyun later, if the monsters in the woods didn't get to him first.  
  


Before him loomed a towering wall of green. If it was any other place in the world, Kyungsoo wouldn't think twice about going in to explore. There was something so fascinating about the woods; it was purely magical the way the sunlight hit the foliage and made them glow the most spectacular bright green, with light peeking through the thick canopy and creating golden pools on the blanket of fallen leaves below. But despite the sunlight, Kyungsoo could see that the further inwards the trail went, the darker it became. He felt his heart racing wildly in his chest as he took a hesitant step forward. The leaves crunched beneath his shoes and he could've sworn he heard rustling come from deeper within, but he tried his hardest to ignore it and instead forced himself to continue onward into the thicket.  
  


"Baekhyun?" he called timidly. Not wanting to attract the attention of anything or anyone that could harm him, he had tried to keep his voice low, but the forest was so still and quiet that even the volume of his own whisper startled him. He shut his mouth, covering it with his hand, and stopped dead in his tracks. He could hear his own labored breathing and the blood rushing in his ears. Kyungsoo forced himself to relax and stay quiet. He focused on the chorus of birdsong that seemed to come from all directions, and the soothing melodies of the happy feathered creatures helped to somewhat calm his nerves.  
  


Starting again, Kyungsoo began to walk forward, wincing every time the leaves crunched underneath his feet. He felt as though he could be heard from a mile away. Realistically, Kyungsoo tried to reason with himself, there was probably nobody else in the woods except for him and Baekhyun, so he was probably completely safe as long as he didn't wander too far in. But his stomach was twisting with nerves and his imagination ran wild with all the different ways something could go wrong. The most terrifying outcome to this excursion would be to get lost in the middle of nowhere and starve to death; with that thought, Kyungsoo looked back to see the entrance to the forest behind him and the field further beyond, which helped him to compose himself before he finally decided to just get everything over with and go deeper into the wilderness.  
  


At first, Kyungsoo was apprehensive about going deeper, but he soon found that walking amongst the trees was actually very soothing. The choir of chirps and whistles made Kyungsoo feel as though he was connected to the nature around him. He felt at peace, and as he gazed around in wonder at the sea of green and brown before him, his awareness of just how far into the forest he had gone vanished. At this point his breathing had returned to normal, although there was still a slight tightness to his chest, but Kyungsoo was just glad that he could breathe with relative ease again. With the threat of another asthma attack no longer looming in the back of his mind, Kyungsoo continued down the path with confidence, albeit cautiously. He needed to find Baekhyun fast. What little sky he could see between the tree tops had clouded over significantly. A cold wind whistled through the trees; taking a deep breath, Kyungsoo could smell the threat of rain.  
  


The snap of a twig caused Kyungsoo to halt dead in his tracks. It couldn't have been him; there were no sticks beneath his feet when he looked down to inspect. He looked up, spotting a squirrel leaping from one tree to the next, and released a breath he didn't know he was holding. But a different rustling sound continued—it seemed to come from behind, sounding like someone fighting their way through thick shrubbery and emerging out onto the trail, leaves crackling beneath their feet.  
  


Heart picking up speed, Kyungsoo looked behind him, catching the slightest glimpse of a shadowy figure stepping out onto the forest path before he broke into a sprint. Over the sound of his own feet trampling the leaves below him he could hear the person behind him running after him as well, a fact which only served to make Kyungsoo push his legs, and his lungs for that matter, to work faster and harder than they had ever worked before.  
  


_I'm gonna die, oh my god I'm gonna die,_ Kyungsoo repeated over and over in his head like some hysterical mantra. The urge to look behind him to check if he was still being pursued was so great that he almost considered doing it, but decided at the last minute that if he turned his head for even the briefest moment it might cause him to lose his balance and fall, which would spell out his death for sure. Forcing himself to look forward and run even faster was the only thing he could do.  
  


Approaching quickly was a fork in the trail. Kyungsoo had two options: the right path, which was well worn and seemed to lead to a thinner part of the forest where trees were more spread out, or the left path, which hardly existed because it was severely overgrown. Having only seconds to debate, he chose the left path, swiftly changing his direction and jumping over a fallen log that lay only a few feet down the road. Shortly after the log was another fork, this time with three directions to choose from. Kyungsoo remained on the path heading straight, and quickly came upon a puddle which he had no choice but to stomp through, sending mud flying up and splattering onto his pants.  
  


He ran for a little while longer, until he realized he could no longer take a proper breath in. He could still hear the person chasing from behind—it baffled Kyungsoo how on earth they managed to keep up when he thought he had been darting at the speed of light—but even though he could hardly breathe, Kyungsoo refused to slow down. The only reason he eventually stopped was due to the fact that he caught his foot on an exposed root and tripped. He pitched forward and saw the ground rush up to his face. Despite the fluffy coating of fallen leaves, the ground was, in fact, painfully hard, and Kyungsoo crashed unceremoniously and continued to roll until he came to a stop right up against something hard and cold.  
  


"Kyungsoo-yah!" The person chasing him called in alarm. Dazed, Kyungsoo looked up, just in time for the light above him to be blocked by Baekhyun's face coming into his field of vision. "Are you okay?!" Wide, shiny eyes stared down at him with fright and concern. Kyungsoo felt a pair of hands grip his shoulders and before he knew it he was hauled upright and positioned up against the chilly backing of a stone wall.  
  


"I only wanted to scare you, not kill you," Baekhyun confessed, breathless. His hands flitted around the younger, first hovering around his face, then his shoulders, then around Kyungsoo's ankle, unsure of where to be placed in what Kyungsoo assumed was supposed to be a comforting gesture.  
  


Kyungsoo opened his mouth to answer, but found that he could hardly breathe in. At the same time, he became painfully aware of a searing hot burning sensation in his ankle. He looked down to where Baekhyun's hands were hovering and saw that his right ankle was bent slightly in a direction that didn't seem natural and had also swollen considerably, a faint purple bruise already forming. His eyes travelled up to Baekhyun's face. He was as pale as a sheet and his eyes were so wide with panic that Kyungsoo thought they would pop out of his head.  
  


"Baek," Kyungsoo breathed. When he inhaled he wheezed so bad he sounded like a whistling tea kettle. He coughed in an effort to somehow clear his airway, but his lungs refused to inflate, and what little air he managed to get in didn't want to get out.  
  


Baekhyun looked on the verge of tears. "Are you having an asthma attack?" he asked worriedly. "Right now?! What can I do?"  
  


"In...hal...er," he managed to squeeze out, a feat that only left him more breathless than before. He knew there was no inhaler in his pocket, he had already checked, but perhaps by some miracle Baekhyun had one on him. After Baekhyun checked Kyungsoo's pockets and found nothing, he checked his own, fumbling around with the fabric to try to find the small plastic device. When he pulled his hands out, they were empty. "Might...have...dropped it..." Kyungsoo offered. The lack of oxygen was starting to make him feel dizzy, and he closed his eyes as his vision began to go fuzzy.  
  


Baekhyun stood up quickly. "I'll go look for it. Maybe it fell out on the trail or in the field." He patted Kyungsoo's shoulder reassuringly, perhaps a little too roughly because he was in a hurry. "I'll be right back okay? Just calm down and take deep breaths."  
  


Kyungsoo was too busy trying not to pass out from both a lack of air and pain to scoff at the statement. "Go...fast," he pleaded, and listened as Baekhyun began to sprint back they way he had come.  
  


This was not the way Kyungsoo had intended his afternoon to go. A broken ankle, a severe asthma attack, and now he was alone in the woods...he wasn't sure how he was going to explain this to his parents when he got back home. _If I get back home_ , he thought, but quickly became distracted by a jolt of pain up his leg when he shifted it ever so slightly closer to his body. He carefully placed his hand on the swollen ankle; when the gentlest touch send waves of pain across the area, he recoiled his hand as if he had been burned. Tears pricked at the corners of his eyes and he looked up in order to keep them from falling.  
  


Above him the sky had turned dark gray. The leaves on the trees rustled loudly as the wind picked up. The air had a crisp scent to it that Kyungsoo recognized as an indication of impending rain. And he was correct—moments after thinking it, he felt a drop of water hit his forehead, and soon enough, it began to pour, drenching his clothes and plastering his hair to his face. Every drop of water that hit his ankle felt like he was getting stabbed. He held his hands over his ankle like a small roof, and the piercing pain faded into a somewhat duller throb.  


Within minutes Kyungsoo was soaked to the bone and shivering. He looked around frantically for shelter, hissing in pain when he twisted around and had to drag his leg with him. The stone wall he had stopped just short of was the exterior of a small and crumbling stone hut. Half of the wall was gone, now lying as a pile of rubble around the section still standing, and the roof had a few holes in it, but nothing substantial. Still, it didn't look safe, and Kyungsoo wasn't really in the mood to get crushed and buried by falling stones. But, he reasoned, the longer he stayed out in the rain, the worse off he would be. Even though the structural integrity of the roof was questionable, it was certainly better than nothing, so Kyungsoo began to painstakingly drag himself around the corner of the wall and into the hut.  


On the way his ankle brushed over a sharp rock which sent a pain so debilitating up his leg that for a second all Kyungsoo could see was white. When all he could feel was a dull throb, Kyungsoo pushed himself the rest of the way in and huddled in the back corner of the little stone house. His ankle was now bleeding from a rather long scrape, no doubt from the rock that was oh so conveniently in his way. Kyungsoo closed his eyes, focusing his attention and energy on breathing, in hopes of opening his airways and distracting himself from the pain.  


Before he even knew it, he could hear Baekhyun's distant voice calling out to him. Kyungsoo opened his eyes blearily. It had stopped pouring, instead changing to a barely noticeable drizzle. Had he fallen asleep? Perhaps stress over the situation at hand had caused him to pass out, he wasn't sure. He took a deep breath, struggling to fill his lungs, and exhaled, though it was still difficult to force air out as well. When he looked down at his ankle all he saw was a giant swollen purple mess.  


"Kyungsoo-yah? Kyungsoo!" Baekhyun called worriedly. Kyungsoo heard his frantic footsteps as he ran closer. "Kyungsoo, where did you go?"  


"I'm in here," he croaked. He was still wheezing painfully. He tried coughing to clear his throat, though he knew it wouldn't do much good. "I'm...in the hut,"  


Baekhyun suddenly appeared around the corner. His face flooded with relief when he saw Kyungsoo huddled there, safe yet unfortunately soaked through and through, but it quickly hardened again when he saw the cut on Kyungsoo's swollen ankle and the exhaustion and pain splayed out across the younger's face. "What happened?" Baekhyun demanded. He immediately rushed over to Kyungsoo's ankle and crouched down. He reached out and just barely moved the ankle so he could get a better look at the scrape; even the slightest touch had Kyungsoo groaning in discomfort.  


"It started raining...so I crawled...into here," he tried to explain. As one would expect, it's rather difficult to speak when you can hardly breathe. "Rock was...in the way..." Kyungsoo coughed again. "Did you...find..." His eyes travelled down to Baekhyun's clenched fist. "Inhaler!" he exclaimed when he saw the familiar blue plastic cartridge in his hand. He held out his open palm expectantly. Baekhyun gave him the inhaler and Kyungsoo wasted no time shaking it and shoving it into his mouth, pressing down on the metal canister and breathing in as much as he could of the medication that sprayed out. He did this twice more and afterwards let out a sigh of relief.  


"I found it in the field." Baekhyun explained. "It must've fallen out of your pocket when we were playing." He noticed the faint smile on Kyungsoo's face and felt a smile of his own forming. "Feeling better?" Kyungsoo nodded tiredly.  


"Much better,"  


With just a few puffs his airways were suddenly wide open and air could actually pass in and out of them with ease. Kyungsoo was incredibly relieved to finally be able to breathe without struggling and pain. He reached for Baekhyun, who scooped him up into his arms easily, and laid his head on his chest, now aware of just how tired and sore he really felt.  


Baekhyun began to walk forward slowly. He stared down at Kyungsoo in his arms. The small boy had closed his eyes and his big bushy eyebrows furrowed with discomfort every time his ankle brushed against anything remotely close to it. Baekhyun felt terrible. What was supposed to be a day of fun ended with his best friend severely hurt and in pain. He knew he needed to get back to their village soon and get him to the doctor before anything got worse, so he picked up his pace while still being careful of jostling his friend around.  


"You should get some rest," he advised. Kyungsoo cracked open his eyes just barely enough so that he could see Baekhyun's face. The elder smiled down at him reassuringly. "I got you, don't worry. Rest on the way back to town; I'll take you straight to the doctor so he can patch you up,"  


"Thanks," Kyungsoo mumbled, closing his eyes again. After a bit Baekhyun could tell that Kyungsoo was asleep based on the even rhythm of his breathing. He was safe now, and Baekhyun was getting him help, but they weren't out of the woods yet, literally. They still had a ways to go, not only through the forest, but also the field beyond. It was a long way back to the village and with Kyungsoo soaking wet after just suffering an asthma attack he could develop a cold or something much worse.  


Instinctively, Kyungsoo curled closer into Baekhyun's chest. One of his hands shot up and grabbed his shirt. He grunted in his sleep and Baekhyun smiled down at him worriedly. "You'll be okay," he said softly. "I got you,"  


************  


The swooping call of a cardinal floated in through the open window on a gentle, warm breeze. The curtains rustled in the wind, and sunlight disappeared and reappeared on Kyungsoo's eyelids. He stirred, feeling the soft bed sheets rubbing against his arms, and became aware of just how comfortable the mattress underneath him felt. He took a deep breath, though he couldn't completely fill his lungs, and sighed contently as he turned over, making sure to bring the bed sheets higher up to his neck and stick his face under the warm sunlight.  


"Kyungsoo," a voice whispered. His eyebrow twitched in annoyance. "Kyungsoo-yah, wake up,"  


Kyungsoo responded by pulling the sheet over his head. "Go away, I'm sleeping," he mumbled grumpily. The voice muttered something that sounded suspiciously like _"You pint-sized jerk face,”  
_

Suddenly, the sheet was ripped away from his hands. "Kyungsoo-yah," the voiced whined. A finger began to poke his cheek. "Omo, you have really adorable and puffy cheeks. You're so cute, Kyungsoo-yah. Teach me how to be as tiny and as cute as you~"  


"I am not cute!" Kyungsoo exclaimed, irritated, opening his eyes to glare at his tormenter. Much to his annoyance, he was greeted with the sight of Baekhyun halfway climbed into his bed, his knee about to knock into Kyungsoo's foot, which lay wrapped in beige bandages atop a mountain of pillows. An ice pack sat at the bottom of the pillow pile, most likely having fallen off due to Kyungsoo shifting in his sleep.  


"Watch the foot," Kyungsoo warned. Baekhyun made sure to raise his leg high as he wedged himself between Kyungsoo and the wall lined with stuffed animals and even more pillows. When he was sufficiently comfortable he smiled at Kyungsoo and presented to him a small white box tied together with red string. On the top, in practically illegible handwriting, was a short message:  


_Sorry I almost killed you_

_\- your best friend Baekhyun <3  
_

Kyungsoo's face was blank. "What is this,"  


Baekhyun smiled sheepishly. "A little something to help you feel better." When Kyungsoo only continued to stare at it, Baekhyun playfully threw a small dog plush toy at him. "Go on, open it!"  


He held the box for a moment longer before shaking it carefully. Inside, something jumbled around loudly. Kyungsoo's curiousity and excitement were building rapidly, so he quickly untied the knot atop the box and ripped off the red string, throwing it at Baekhyun who caught it easily and began fiddling with it absentmindedly. The top of the box lifted open, revealing a square of wax paper that Kyungsoo hastily crumpled and threw aside. There, in a neat stack of ten, were puffy, soft-looking chocolate chip cookies.  


Kyungsoo picked one up slowly, eyes wide with amazement as he inspected it closely. He took a small bite and instantly his eyes lit up. His face held the expression of someone who had just eaten a five star three course meal. Baekhyun wished he could've taken a picture of it.  


"So..." Baekhyun started with a knowing smirk. "Are they good?" He reached over to grab a cookie from the box, only to have his hand smacked away harshly. "What? I can't taste-test my own creation?!" he cried. He crossed his arms and pouted. "I go through all the trouble to make those for you and you won't even let me try one,"  


Kyungsoo rolled his eyes and handed Baekhyun a cookie, who clapped his hands gleefully and practically inhaled the treat before Kyungsoo could even blink. Suddenly, Baekhyun grunted and stuck a pointer finger in the air.  


"Befmm I fuugmm," he said with his mouthful.  


"What?"  


He swallowed. "Before I forget," Leaning over the end of the bed, he produced a plastic bag filled with even more goodies. There were chocolate bars, more cookies, Kyungsoo's favorite flavor of peppero, puffy cheese things and chips, not to mention more gummy worms than Kyungsoo could ever hope to consume.   


Baekhyun handed him the bag with a dramatic bow."For your snacking pleasure as you lay here for the next week or so,"

  
Kyungsoo looked into the bag with wonder. He pulled out the box of peppero, digging in immediately. He went to put a stick in his mouth but stopped. "Wait. I have to stay in bed?" The sudden realization made him frown.  


"Well you can't walk on a sprained ankle now can you?"

  
"But what am I supposed to do all day?!"  


"Doc said you have to rest otherwise it'll take longer for your ankle to heal. He also says: No. More. Running." Baekhyun poked Kyungsoo's chest with every word. The younger boy rubbed at his sternum with a scowl.  


"This sucks," he pouted, and Baekhyun shrugged. "Do our parents know that we went into the-"  


"Shhhhh," Baekhyun shushed the younger boy frantically as he leaned over and clapped his hand over Kyungsoo's mouth. He looked behind him worriedly. Kyungsoo peered over his shoulder, only to see that the door to his bedroom was wide open."This stays between you and me," Baekhyun whispered sternly.  


Kyungsoo stared at him with wide eyes and nodded. "Mmm hmm,"  


Baekhyun removed his hand. "I told them we were playing out in the field and you must've tripped over a rock or something. Nobody will ever know that we went you-know-where, okay?"  


Another nod. "Got it,"  


“Good. If my parents find out about this I think they’ll actually murder me.”

  
Kyungsoo grimaced. “Same…” They fell into a comfortable silence. Kyungsoo sighed and fell back onto his pillows, while Baekhyun scanned the impenetrable wall of stuffed animals that lined the side of Kyungsoo’s bed. He reached for one, a tiny black and white penguin with small beady eyes and a long yellow beak. He tied the red ribbon around its neck and fastened it into a tiny bow. Proud of his craftsmanship, he took a minute to admire his work before carefully placing the stuffed animal back in its place amongst the rest of the toys, refilling the gap that it had left.

  
He sighed contently. “So…” he started. “What do you want to do?” He could tell Kyungsoo was itching to do something. The way he fidgeted every three seconds and tried to reposition his bad foot had Baekhyun feeling antsy just watching him. It would be best for the two of them to do something fun, even if it was confined to inside the house. Though Baekhyun really wanted to go outside and run around since the weather was nice, he knew Kyungsoo couldn’t come with him, and playing wasn’t fun unless Kyungsoo was around. Baekhyun supposed he could sacrifice a few days of outdoor play in order to stay by his friend’s side. He knew Kyungsoo would appreciate it, and the thought made Baekhyun smile.

  
Scanning the room, Baekhyun spotted a Playstation underneath a bunch of DVD cases on the bottom shelf of a television stand. Next to it, a stack of games. His eyes lit up. Baekhyun loved playing video games, and Kyungsoo loved trying to beat Baekhyun at video games, even though it was almost impossible (at least, Baekhyun would like to think so). There was one game in particular that the two of them had never gotten tired of, and Baekhyun knew that if he booted it up, Kyungsoo wouldn’t be able to resist.

  
Kyungsoo yawned. Grumbling, he stuffed a handful of peppero in his mouth, then brought his bed sheet over his arms. “If I can’t leave my bed, I might as well sleep.” He closed his eyes, turning over to stuff his face into his pillow. “Go hang out with Chanyeol. Didn’t he get a new puppy a while ago?”

  
“Chanyeol doesn’t get back from vacation until next week. Geez, did you hit your head when you fell too?” Baekhyun snickered.

  
Without even looking up, Kyungsoo reached for a stuffed animal and threw it in Baekhyun’s general direction. It hit Baekhyun square in the shoulder—he fell over, clutching his shoulder in mock pain. “Commander!” he wheezed. “Commander, I’ve been hit! I don’t think I’m gonna make it!” Baekhuyn coughed and moaned, rolling along the carpeted floor in feigned agony. With his last dying breath, he reached towards the ceiling with his good arm, making a fist and then letting it fall to the floor dramatically. “Tell my family…I love them…blegh…”

  
From the bed came muffled clapping mixed with poorly suppressed giggles. Baekhyun propped himself up on his elbows and watched with growing satisfaction as the bed sheets quivered and Kyungsoo’s head popped back out from underneath them. Kyungsoo’s cheeks practically glowed as he cackled uncontrollably; his eyes scrunched up and disappeared into the crescent moons Baekhyun always thought made the younger look criminally cute.

  
“You’re an idiot,” Kyungsoo managed to choke out between fits of laughter. Baekhyun’s face started to hurt from smiling so much, but try as he might to maintain a straight face, his efforts were futile.

  
“Yah,” he whined, “I’m your hyung and this is how you treat me?” Baekhyun shook his head. He reached for the stuffed animal he was hit with. Taking the offending animal, an orange tabby cat filled with what felt like small plastic beads, he threw it back at Kyungsoo—it missed, which didn’t surprise Baekhyun in the slightest, but it made Kyungsoo double over with laughter and bury his head in a pillow covered in giraffes, so if Baekhyun’s terrible aiming skills helped to make his friend feel better then that was all that really mattered.

  
Eventually they both calmed down and Baekhyun helped Kyungsoo out of bed, despite the younger’s protests of _I think I can get out of my own bed by myself, thank you very much._ Baekhyun took him into his arms bridal style and as he walked over to the Playstation he pretended to drop his passenger, eliciting a scream from Kyungsoo which he would later deny ever happened. It also caused Baekhyun to receive a few good slaps to his shoulder and chest. Okay, Baekhyun thought as he put Kyungsoo down on the floor and got smacked once more on his leg, maybe he deserved those. But Kyungsoo gave out punishments easily and was reluctant to receive them when he had it coming, so as he began to search through his pile of games, Baekhyun gave him a flick on the head for good measure, just barely dodging a swift moving fist as it swung for his gut.

  
“Do you want me to play video games with you or not?” Kyungsoo questioned, scowling, but Baekhyun could see the glint of mischief in his eyes. He held up his hands in surrender and Kyungsoo huffed haughtily.

  
“I sincerely apologize, oh great one,” Baekhyun said snobbishly as he bowed. Kyungsoo rolled his eyes in response.

  
“Which game did you want to play?”

  
“Is that even a question? I know that you know the game I’m thinking of,”

  
Kyungsoo reached for said game. He held it in his hands, gazing at it and thinking hard. Finally, he turned to Baekhyun, bottom lip pushed out in a pout and eyes blinking with the best puppy dog expression he could muster. “Can’t we play anything else?”

  
Baekhyun was bewildered. What kind of drugs was he on where he didn’t want to play Crash Team Racing? He gave Kyungsoo a confounded look. “Are you sure you’re alright in the head?”

  
That earned him another whack against his leg. “I never win this game,” Kyungsoo lamented. “You always beat me and it’s so unfair!”

  
“That, dearest dongsaeng, is simply because I have a natural talent for this game. Maybe when you’re older you’ll best the master, but for now, you’ll just have to keep practicing,” Baekhyun smirked, ruffling Kyungsoo’s hair playfully. Kyungsoo stared at him, deadpan.

  
“Remember the _one time_ I beat you last summer and you didn’t talk to me for a week afterwards?”

  
Baekhyun paled. “I was sick that time and not on top of my game and you know it.” Baekhyun snatched the game case from Kyungsoo’s hand and put the disk in the console, much to Kyungsoo’s protests, then slammed both the disk reader and the game case shut. “We’re playing Crash Team Racing and you’re going to like it.” Baekhyun grinned widely. “Okay?”

  
Crossing his arms and exhaling indignantly, Kyungsoo turned away. “Only if you get me the bag of cheese puffs.”

  
“Deal.”

  
“And I call dibs on Crash.”

  
Baekhyun remained silent.

  
“And if I win you have to give me piggy backs wherever I want to go until my ankle is better.”

  
The older grumbled something under his breath Kyungsoo was sure his parents would yell at him for and handed Kyungsoo a controller with more anger than was necessary. Teasing Baekhyun gave Kyungsoo so much joy, but he was careful not to push it too far lest he actually make his hyung upset, so he bit back the snicker that threatened to spill from his mouth and instead took the controller without a word.

  
A bag of cheese puffs open between them, Baekhyun started up the Playstation, the familiar logo and jingle filling the screen and their ears. When the game finally started Baekhyun went to multiplayer mode, where he and Kyungsoo chose their characters. Baekhyun wasn’t used to playing as any other character, so without Crash he didn’t feel very confident that he would win this time. Begrudgingly, he picked Tiny Tiger, a character with lots of speed, a moderate acceleration rate, but poor turning skills. Hopefully he could overtake Kyungsoo early and stay ahead in order to win the race. He would have to concentrate extremely hard in order to beat Kyungsoo this time, and as Kyungsoo switched between racetracks in order to find a good one, his confidence was building. Well, it was, until-

  
“Let’s do Hot Air Skyway,” Kyungsoo said, and selected the track without even waiting for Baekhyun to respond.

  
Baekhyun gaped as the level loaded and began counting down to the start of the race. “Are you serious?!” he exclaimed, flabbergasted. “That’s so unfair! You know I’ll lose on this track!”

  
“How can the ‘Master of Crash Team Racing’ possibly lose on such a simple track like this?” Kyungsoo challenged. He raised an eyebrow at the elder, who gritted his teeth and shook his head with disappointment.

  
“I hate you,” he said simply. His friend laughed. It was short and biting and made Baekhyun want to flick him upside the head again. 

  
Within thirty seconds of the race starting, Baekhyun had already fallen off the edge of the track twice. Each time it happened Kyungsoo struggled to keep his laughter in check and he knew it was getting on Baekhyun’s nerves. At one point Baekhyun had fallen so far behind that Kyungsoo actually lapped him, and that was when Baekhyun stubbornly threw his controller on the ground and sat back with his arms crossed, waiting for Kyungsoo to finish the race and put him out of his misery.

  
“We’re doing best two out of three,” he commanded once Kyungsoo had won and received his virtual trophy. Kyungsoo could only look on with mild amusement as his hyung descended into madness with each subsequent race that he lost. They played a few more races, Kyungsoo winning by a landslide every time. Playing as Crash was a luxury he hardly got to experience when he played multiplayer with Baekhyun. Although he had to admit, as much fun as it was to torment Baekhyun like this, he was actually starting to scare Kyungsoo a little, so after one more race Kyungsoo decided to shut off the Playstation. He reached into his bag of candy and pulled out a package of gummy worms. Without a word, he ripped it open and handed it to Baekhyun.

  
Baekhyun snatched the bag from Kyungsoo’s hand and mumbled something under his breath the younger couldn’t quite make out. Taking a handful of gummy worms, he shoved the sugary bugs into his mouth. There were so many that they didn’t all fit, causing one to hang out his top lip and down his chin. Kyungsoo looked over briefly and snorted. He covered his mouth with his hand and Baekhyun raised his eyebrows unamusedly.

  
“What?” He frowned.

  
Kyungsoo pointed to the gummy worm slipping down his chin. “Oh, wait a minute,” He took another from the bag and opened his mouth in hopes that Baekhyun would mimic him. “Say ah~”. Baekhyun opened his mouth curiously—Kyungsoo stuck a third of the gummy worm in his mouth, then closed his jaw and admired his handiwork. “You’re a walrus now,” he said with a grin.

  
Baekhyun stared at him for a few seconds. He blinked slowly until the realization dawned on him. Suddenly, he smiled widely, causing the gummy bears to fall out of his mouth and onto his lap, but he hastily stuffed them back in. Rising on his knees, he kept his hands limp at the wrists like flippers and scooted over to Kyungsoo, then preceded to tackle him to the ground.

  
“Grrrrr! I’ll crush you to death!” He flung himself over Kyungsoo, causing the younger to grunt with surprise. They wrestled for a bit, with Baekhyun making sure he didn’t accidentally bump into Kyungsoo’s injured ankle. He rolled around on Kyungsoo’s stomach yelling “Am I crushing you yet? Am I crushing you yet?”

  
Underneath him, Kyungsoo smacked his back frantically with his fist. “Baekhyun,” he squeezed out painfully. “Baekhyun, you’re-“

  
“Am I crushing you?” he asked with a cheeky grin. He sat up, straddling Kyungsoo. Just as Kyungsoo opened his mouth to breathe in a gasp of air, Baekhyun brought his hands down and began to tickle him.

  
Kyungsoo erupted into a fit of giggles. Watching his dongsaeng squirm made Baekhyun cackle maniacally with sadistic glee. Kyungsoo thrashed below him, yelling for Baekhyun to stop but unable to prevent himself from grinning. He fought to push Baekhyun off of him but the elder was rather heavy and Kyungsoo had to admit he didn’t have the strongest muscles…

  
Baekhyun paused in his tickle attack for the briefest of seconds and Kyungsoo took the opportunity to grab his hands and hold them off to the sides. “Baekhyun,” he gasped. The boy looked down curiously. Gone was the look of mirth from Kyungsoo’s face. Instead, his eyes were wide with alarm and his mouth hung open as he panted laboriously. The sudden change in demeanor alarmed Baekhyun and he quickly hopped off the younger, settling by his side and leaning over his face with heightened concern.

  
“What’s wrong?!” he implored.

  
“Can’t…breathe…”

  
Within seconds Baekhyun was yanking open every drawer in Kyungsoo’s room. He searched his bedside table, then his dresser on the opposite wall when he found nothing. He rifled through clothes, he checked every toy box, he laid on his stomach to search under the bed, but Kyungsoo’s inhaler was nowhere to be found. He turned to his friend in a frenzy. “Where’s your inhaler?!”

  
Kyungsoo laid back, staring at the ceiling as he tried to calm his breathing. His airway was refusing to let air in or out of his lungs, and it was causing him to panicand try to breath faster, which of course wasn’t helping in the slightest. “It isn’t by my bed?” he wheezed.

  
“No, I already checked. I’ve checked everywhere, Kyungsoo. I can’t believe we lost this stupid thing again!”

  
“Check the…bathroom…”

  
Out of the corner of his eye Kyungsoo saw Baekhyun disappear and reappear moments later with a shake of his head. “It’s not there. And before you ask,” he interrupted as he saw Kyungsoo open his mouth, “yes, I really checked. I didn’t see it anywhere.” He sat by Kyungsoo again, pulling him up into a sitting position, and placed both of his hands on his friend’s shoulder to stabilize him. “Do you want me to call the doctor?”

  
Kyungsoo thought for a second before shaking his head slowly. “No,” he breathed. “It’ll stop eventually,”

  
“Look at me,” Baekhyun instructed. Without hesitation, Kyungsoo looked up into his eyes. He looked so scared and in pain that Baekhyun almost hugged him, but common sense told him that probably wasn’t the best idea at that moment. “Breathe with me. In.” He breathed in deeply; Kyungsoo tried to follow but his airways wouldn’t let much of anything through. “Breathe out.” Baekhyun released his breath slowly while Kyungsoo struggled to let anything out at all. Any air that managed to squeeze out of his trachea sounded like a whistling kettle.

  
“Keep doing this with me okay?”

  
Kyungsoo nodded. He closed his eyes, focusing on his breathing and willing his heart to stop pounding so fast. He breathed in when Baekhyun commanded and breathed out as best as he could. For a while it didn’t seem like his condition was improving, and it only made Kyungsoo panic even more, but slight squeezes on his shoulders from Baekhyun reassured him and helped him to calm down. And when Baekhyun shuffled behind him and started to massage his shoulders and upper back, he finally felt himself begin to relax, and after ten minutes he could breathe in and out with relatively little tightness in his chest.

  
He took a deep breath, as deep as his lungs would allow, and exhaled a large sigh. He felt Baekhyun’s hands on his back still.

  
“You okay?” Baekhyun asked. He scooted over to look at Kyungsoo’s face. “How do you feel?”

  
“Fine,” Kyungsoo answered tiredly. “A lot better than before,”

  
Baekhyun sighed in relief. He observed Kyungsoo for a few more minutes as the younger closed his eyes again and seemed to drift off into sleep. The way Kyungsoo feel alseep sitting upright had Baekhyun smiling faintly. He touched his friend’s shoulder, just to make sure Kyungsoo really was asleep before he decided to move him, then picked him up just like that afternoon in the forest and carried him to his bed where he laid him down and carefully positioned his hurt ankle on top of his pile of pillows, then covered him with his bedsheets and a light blanket. Kyungsoo shifted slightly and mumbled a quiet “thank you” without opening his eyes.

  
“No roughhousing for a while,” Baekhyun said sadly. He moved towards Kyungsoo’s door and paused in the threshold. “Get lots of rest so you can be strong for when we get to play for real. You need to stop pushing yourself,”

  
“You started it,” he heard Kyungsoo mutter. Baekhyun made a face even though he knew the younger couldn’t see it.

  
“Tch, if it weren’t for me you would never leave your house.”

  
“Maybe if I didn’t leave my house I wouldn’t break my leg,”

  
“Your _ankle_ is _sprained_ ,” Baekhyun corrected. Kyungsoo opened his eyes just to roll them.

  
“I thought you wanted me to get some rest, Byun,”

  
“Yah! I’m your hyung; treat me with respect!”

  
Kyungsoo cracked a smile. “Maybe I will when you stop trying to kill me,”

  
This time Baekhyun was the one to roll his eyes. “Whatever,” he relented. He watched as Kyungsoo buried his head further into his pillow. “I’ll come back tomorrow and we can play board games or something,”

  
“Mmm hmm,” Kyungsoo hummed. He was quiet for a second, then- “Thanks for coming over today. And thanks for the snacks,”

  
Baekhyun smiled. “Anything for my little dongsaeng,”

  
“If that’s a short joke I swear-“

  
“See you tomorrow!”

  
Baekhyun bolted out the door, leaving Kyungsoo to lay in silence as he listened to Baekhyun’s footsteps stomping down the stairs. When he heard Baekhyun bid goodbye to his brother downstairs then leave through the front door, Kyungsoo turned to look at his window. Baekhyun stepped into view as he began the long trek across town back to his house. Just like Kyungsoo knew he would, he stopped, turning around and waving. Kyungsoo waved back, though he wasn’t sure Baekhyun could see it, and stuck out his tongue. After a few seconds, Baekhyun gave a peace sign and turned around, continuing home. He disappeared from Kyungsoo’s view and Kyungsoo turned over again, snuggling into his blanket.

  
A slight shift in his ankle caused pain to flare up and make him cringe. He furrowed his eyebrows and pushed his face further into his pillow in attempts to stifle the groan threatening to spill from his throat. His ankle had been bothering him the entire time Baekhyun was over and a few times the pain was so unbearable he wanted to cry. But he knew from the way Baekhyun looked at him sometimes that his hyung felt incredibly guilty for hurting his best friend, even though it was unintentional, and Kyungsoo didn’t want to make him feel any worse by showing any signs of discomfort. It was hard, and at some points all he wanted to do was complain to Baekhyun, as if complaining about it would’ve helped anyway, but he bit his tongue.

  
Sighing, he called out for his brother to get him some painkillers, which the older boy took his sweet time to bring, much to Kyungsoo’s annoyance. Once he had popped the pills in his mouth and finished his entire glass of water, Kyungsoo rolled over and attempted to sleep. He looked forward to when his ankle would be better so he could play with Baekhyun again. Just imagining the stupid hijinks they would manage to get themselves into brought a smile to his face, and he fell asleep dreaming of running through the woods, the wind filling his lungs and whipping through his hair.

  
************

  
It was only three days into his mandatory bedrest and Kyungsoo was already at his wit’s end. He couldn’t bear to stay trapped in his bed any longer. His ankle was feeling better and he could actually put some weight on it now without feeling like he was going to collapse—even though he was absolutely positively not supposed to move his ankle at all, he frequently, during the wee hours of the morning, flung off his covers and slowly eased himself out of bed, then walked the length of his room for as long as he could manage. He was wobbly on his feet for the first couple of days, but over time he built up strength in his bones and muscles again, and before he knew it he could walk around with just a small limp and minimal pain. But of course, he was supposed to be confined to his bed, and after the doctor came to visit a couple days after initially treating him, he extended the bedrest to a week and a half. Needless to say, Kyungsoo was not happy.

  
So here he was, laying in bed on a gorgeous summer day, wishing he were anywhere but his house. His legs itched to spring out of bed and run around his backyard. But Kyungsoo’s brother was home and would most definitely tattle on him if he caught Kyungsoo moving around when he shouldn’t. Kyungsoo sighed as he gazed out his window. A few puffy clouds floated by lazily—they looked like little balls of cotton that someone glued to the sky. He felt his heart constrict suddenly, a painful longing for what he couldn’t have tugging at his heartstrings. A dull sadness lingered in his soul and being stuck in his bedroom made him feel empty and lifeless.

  
Sighing, Kyungsoo pushed himself up onto his elbows. “Seungsoo hyung?” he called through his open door. His brother was downstairs watching television, at least, he was supposed to be. Kyungsoo waited for a response but none came. He craned his neck to look out his doorway. “Hyung?” he tried again. Like before, he received no indication that his brother was in the house. “Seungsoo…?”

  
Well, this certainly made his plans easier. With a devilish smile, Kyungsoo swung his legs over the side of the bed and planted his feet on the floor. His bad ankle twinged but he ignored it and stood up, wobbling ever so slightly. He limped his way towards the door. When he made it to the doorway he suddenly turned around, forgetting that he left his inhaler on his bedside table. He quickly hobbled over and retrieved it, then continued down the hallway to the staircase. He looked at it apprehensively. He had gone up and down these stairs hundreds of times before, but suddenly the task seemed daunting. What if he lost his balance and fell? Sure, there was a handrail on one side, but that wouldn’t help much if he went to place his foot on a step and his ankle crumpled and sent him pitching forward.

  
Kyungsoo took a deep breath. If he wanted out of this house, he just needed to go for it. Carefully and ever so slowly, he lowered his good foot onto the first stair, then placed his bad foot next to it. He repeated this for every stair while holding onto the handrail for dear life. In no time he made it to the bottom, causing a rush of confidence to flood his body and he made his way into the kitchen at a faster pace, where he found a note left on the kitchen counter.

  
_Gone to a friend’s house. Will be back by dinner. Kyungsoo has food and water in his room if he needs it._

_\- Seungsoo_

  
“What kind of brother leaves his injured sibling home alone…” Kyungsoo mumbled to himself, shaking his head in disbelief. He really shouldn’t be surprised that Seungsoo would bail on him like that, in fact, he didn’t really blame him if he was being honest. Being forced to stay inside and watch your little brother must be boring, so it was no wonder he wanted to get out of the house just as much as Kyungsoo did.

  
With his parents gone off to work and his brother over at a friend’s house, Kyungsoo was all alone, which meant he could sneak off to Baekhyun’s house unnoticed, hang out for a while, and be back before his family even knew he was gone. The thought of eluding his family so easily made him giddy with excitement. Reaching for the phone on the wall, he dialed Baekhyun’s number and waited.

  
_“Hello?”_ a tired voice asked.

  
“Baekhyun hyung, wake up.”

  
A grunt of surprise came over the other end of the line. _“Kyungsoo-yah? What are you doing out of bed?”_

  
“What makes you think I’m not in my room?”

  
_“The only phone in your house is downstairs in the kitchen.”_

  
Kyungsoo pursed his lips but otherwise remained silent.

  
_“What do you want? Is something wrong?”_ Baekhyun continued after a moment.

  
“I want to go to the forest.”

  
Baekhyun released a sort of choking sound that made Kyungsoo beam with amusement. _“I’m honestly starting to think you hit your head a little harder than we thought when you fell. I thought we agreed we would never talk about this or go there again.”_

  
Kyungsoo pouted. “But I’m super bored and I wanna do something,” he whined. “Hyung please, let’s go run around in the forest. Or in the field if you’re too chicken.”

  
_“Yah! I’m not chicken! You’re the one who didn’t want to go in!”_

  
“Eh, I've grown up since then,”

  
He could picture Baekhyun shaking his head at that. _“Something’s wrong with you,”_ Kyungsoo decided to ignore that comment.

  
“How soon can you come over?”

  
Baekhyun sighed. _“Twenty minutes,”_

  
Kyungsoo grinned wickedly. “Awesome! See you then~” He hung up quickly, cutting off any lasting complaints Baekhyun might have, and started back up the stairs to his bedroom.

  
By the time Baekhyun arrived Kyungsoo had gotten dressed and made himself lunch. After eating he took a few painkillers just in case his ankle decided to become uncooperative later and made absolutely sure he had his inhaler in his pocket before he went out this time. A knock resonating through the empty house signaled Baekhyun’s arrival and Kyungsoo made quickly for the door. When he opened it, Baekhyun was standing there looking as if he had just rolled out of bed. His hair was a giant mess with strands sticking out every which way and the dark circles under his eyes made him look like a zombie.

  
“I woke up and walked all the way across town for you,” Baekhyun interrupted before Kyungsoo could even open his mouth to speak. “I demand compensation for interrupting my precious sleep time.”

  
Kyungsoo rolled his eyes and stepped aside to let his friend in. “Like what?” he asked as Baekhyun sat down heavily at the kitchen counter. He leaned his chin into his palm and blinked slowly, thinking.

  
“Make me some kimchi spaghetti before we go?” he asked hopefully, glancing up at Kyungsoo and giving him his very best puppy dog eyes.

  
The younger was silent for a moment, contemplating. After a few seconds he shrugged. “Seems fair enough to me,”

  
Baekhyun grinned excitedly and clapped his hands. “Nice.”

  
Another twenty minutes or so and there was a steaming plate of kimchi spaghetti on the table in front of Baekhyun. He dug in immediately, slurping the noodles noisily and humming with satisfaction with every bite he took. He ate so quickly and so messily that by the time his plate was clean only five minutes had passed and his face was splattered with sauce. Kyungsoo threw a napkin his way along with a disgusted look. Secretly, though, he was ecstatic that his friend seemed to enjoy his cooking so much. Sure, it was just some kimchi mixed in with spaghetti, but no one had ever shown this much appreciation before. It made Kyungsoo’s heart swell with pride.

  
“Okay,” Baekhyun said as soon as his face was clean. The napkin in his hand had turned reddish-orange, completely covering the pure white that it used to be. “So you want to go back to the forest,” he said slowly, piecing the words together in his mind. He looked at Kyungsoo as if he had two heads.

  
Kyungsoo only nodded. “Don’t you wanna explore that abandoned hut? That thing was awesome,”

  
“But I’d also like to, ya know, not get murdered.”  


“Since when are you the scaredy cat, Byun Baekhyun?”

  
Baekhyun crossed his arms, protruded his lower lip in defiance, and looked away sharply. “We were never supposed to go in there anyway. And besides, last time we set foot in that place you almost _broke_ said foot and suffocated.”

  
“But hyung,” the younger whined. “I’m so bored in my house. I can’t do anything in here. I wanna go out and run around.”

  
“You can’t run. Doctor said so.”

  
“But I want to,”

  
“But you _can’t_ ,”

  
“When has that ever stopped you?”

  
Baekhyun was quiet, contemplating. Finally, he cracked a smile. “Well, you’re not wrong. Okay,” He pushed himself out of his seat. “Shall we go to the forest then? But only for a little bit,” He gave Kyungsoo a stern look. “I’m your hyung and thus I am responsible for you, and that means I can’t let you hurt yourself. You have your inhaler right?”

  
“Way ahead of you,”

  
Kyungsoo presented the life-saving plastic device and waited for Baekhyun’s nod of approval before pocketing the item again. “Good, don’t lose it.” Baekhyun knelt down then, patting his back expectantly. For a second Kyungsoo just stood there looking at Baekhyun with furrowed eyebrows. “You gonna get on or not?”

  
Kyungsoo’s face lit up like a Christmas tree when he finally understood what Baekhyun meant. “I didn’t think you actually remembered our deal,” he explained. With a giggle of glee, he jumped on Baekhyun’s back and squeezed around his middle with his legs; Baekhyun grunted in surprise and almost toppled over, but managed to keep his balance and stand up with a huff. “Geez, you’re heavy,” he complained. Kyungsoo smacked him upside the head…only to immediately regret it when Baekhyun pretended to drop him. His passenger let out a shriek of terror. “Hold on tight~” he teased.

  
The pair set off across town. Baekhyun walked with a spring in his step that jostled Kyungsoo the entire way, but he didn’t mind. Just breathing in the fresh air had Kyungsoo feeling happy and at peace. They passed through the town square bustling with people out on their lunch breaks, buying delicious looking treats from the numerous food vendors that lined the perimeter of the cobblestone space. Small children played in the streets, some with paper dragon kites that were most likely bought from the shop just around the corner, while others played tag and chased each other down narrow alleyways and in between the merchants’ stalls, much to the buyers' and sellers’ dismay. Kyungsoo tapped Baekhyun’s shoulder as they walked past a street vendor selling dalgona, lollipops made from sugar and baking soda after they’ve been mixed, melted, poured, and cooled.

  
“Let’s get some dalgona,” Kyungsoo suggested. Baekhyun eyed the candies with pursed lips.

  
“Do you have money?”

  
Scoffing, Kyungsoo whipped out a few five hundred won coins from his pocket. “Do I have money,” he mocked. Baekhyun brought up his leg to kick him in the butt.

  
“Alright Mr. Moneybags, go ahead and pay then,”

  
They approached the stall—the merchant gave them a strange look at first, but quickly covered it with a smile. Laid out to solidify were freshly poured slabs of sugar. In the middle of each lollipop was the outline of a star. “The best dalgona this side of the mountains,” the merchant boasted with a wink. “Would you young men like to try some? If you can eat the candy around the star without damaging the middle, you get a free dalgona,”

  
“I’ll take one please,” Kyungsoo said politely, and handed the man a coin. In exchange, he received a lollipop fresh off the cooling plate. He looked at it pensively for a minute, tongue darting out to lick his lower lip in anticipation, but instead he decided to give the treat to Baekhyun, who gaped at the younger in surprise. “You can win me a free dalgona,” he explained before Baekhyun could ask. “If I try I know I’ll ruin it,”

  
“You have so much faith in me when you really shouldn’t,” Baekhyun laughed. He scrutinized the lollipop carefully, examining the delicacy from every angle, turning his head every which way in order to find the best point at which to start eating. Eventually he came to the conclusion that throwing caution to the wind was the easiest way to approach the task and began to tear into one side of the lollipop. He made his way around the outside of the star, switching to a different area when he got too close to one of the edges, and eventually there was only about a centimeter of candy around the star. Baekhyun began to carefully bite off the sugar surrounding the center; Kyungsoo couldn’t help but watch with growing excitement mixed with anxiety, and he felt his palms grow sweaty. He craned his neck over Baekhyun’s shoulder just in time to see the older pull his mouth away from the lollipop, revealing a fully intact star made of sugary goodness.

  
Baekhyun looked at his handiwork, a mix of surprise and impression on his face. “Huh…not bad,” He presented, or rather, shoved the star in the vendor’s face with a prideful smirk. “Hey Mister, I did it,” he gloated with a wide grin.

  
The vendor didn’t seem too impressed. “So you did. As promised, you can have another one for free.” He almost seemed reluctant to part with the lollipop as he leaned over the table and handed it to Baekhyun, who reached behind him and gave it to Kyungsoo. “Enjoy and have a good day,” he recited with a half-hearted wave.

  
Kyungsoo beamed. “Thanks!” He waved excitedly to the merchant as Baekhyun jostled him a bit in order to readjust the way he was placed on his back before they set off again. The sun that was beating down intensely before was now obscured by clouds, providing little relief from the sweltering heat but still a welcome change from the rays that made them feel as though they were melting. Kyungsoo swung his legs aimlessly as Baekhyun walked; a few times he accidentally hit his ankle against Baekhyun’s hip and let out a hiss of pain, and every time Baekhyun rolled his eyes but otherwise said nothing. Most of the remainder of the trek was done in silence, with Kyungsoo falling asleep at one point and resting his head on Baekhyun’s shoulder in the crook of his neck. The hair tickled against his sensitive skin but Baekhyun didn’t really mind as long as his dongsaeng was comfortable. So far, he hadn’t been roused from his slumber even with the increased jostling due to the now rough terrain, as they had finally exited the city and set foot on the rolling hills they had played in a few days previous.

  
Baekhyun climbed to the top of one of the hills and shook his rider. “We’re here, wake up,” he stated. Kyungsoo didn’t stir. “Yah, wake up sleepy head. You wanna run around or not?” For a second he considered dropping Kyungsoo unceremoniously onto the ground, but he figured adding a concussion to the list of things wrong with his friend was not the best idea, so instead he reached his arms back and pinched each side of Kyungsoo’s stomach.

  
Kyungsoo startled awake. His legs jolted apart and he lost hold of his hands that hung low beneath Baekhyun’s neck. As a result, he fell off of Baekhyun’s back and onto the ground, landing painfully on his butt. He let out a cry of surprise.

  
“What’s wrong with you?” he wailed. He rubbed his back-end gently in attempts to ease the pain. “Gah, you idiot. You couldn’t wake me up like a normal person?”

  
Baekhyun shrugged sheepishly. He started backing away slowly while looking down and picking his nails absentmindedly. “I tried. You slept like a log. Actually, no. A rock. That makes more sense because you’re _heavy._ ”

  
“So are my punches!” Kyungsoo exclaimed, and leapt up from his sitting position, faltering for a minute on his bad foot before pushing through the discomfort and forcing his legs to move forward. He lunged after Baekhyun but the older slipped away nimbly before Kyungsoo even had the chance to lay a hand on him. He weaseled around his injured friend easily; if Kyungsoo were at full health he might have caught his hyung by now, but only if Baekhyun was feeling generous and willing to let him catch up for once.

  
“You’re gonna have to catch me~” Baekhyun taunted, and took off up the hill, legs moving so fast they looked like a giant blur. Kyungsoo grumbled but excitedly gave chase, pushing his legs to move one after the other even though every time his injured foot made contact with the ground a dull pain bolted down to his toes and up to his hip. It hurt a lot less than it had before, and eventually he was able to ignore the periodic throbs altogether, which allowed him to funnel all of his energy and focus into running faster, harder, better than Baekhyun so that he may have a chance at catching up to his friend.

  
For a minute it looked like Kyungsoo might actually be able to reach his target, but just as he outstretched his arm and spread out his palm to take a fist-full of Baekhyun's shirt, the elder veered sharply to the right...directly towards the entrance to the forest path they had both so bravely entered once before. Kyungsoo watched with slight trepidation, every step painfully reminding him of the misfortune that had befallen him in the depths of the very same woods just a few days earlier, but he had to remind himself that he wanted to be here. He wanted to go to the woods, and since Baekhyun had already sprinted down the trail and disappeared into the brush, there was no turning back. Taking a deep breath, Kyungsoo willed himself forward and entered the forest once more.

  
It was a beautiful place when he wasn't terrified of what might lurk hidden amongst the dense foliage. The leaves blocking out the sun were so green it almost didn't seem real. The remains of last year's leafage that blanketed the ground beneath him crinkled and scrunched underneath his pounding footsteps. Fresh air rushed into Kyungsoo's lungs; he started to feel a tightness in his chest but he ignored it. He knew his limits and he wouldn't push them. Besides, he wanted to go just a little bit farther...

  
"You better not disappear on me again!" Kyungsoo called. He had lost sight of Baekhyun a long time ago and admittedly was beginning to feel anxious. If Baekhyun jumped out and scared him again Kyungsoo would be livid.

  
A faint yell in the distance reassured him somewhat. "I found it!"

  
His lungs were starting to burn, but Kyungsoo pushed on. Before him was a fork in the trail. He vaguely remembered choosing left before, so he followed the path until it became so overgrown that Kyungsoo wasn't sure a path really existed there anymore. He was jogging at this point; his chest was heaving uncomfortably with every breath he took. His inhaler was safely in his pocket and he felt inside just to be sure—when his hand brushed against the hard plastic it helped to ease his mind. If he needed it, it was there, and that was more than he could say for the last time he had an asthma attack.

  
Further down the path was another split in the road. Kyungsoo chose to go straight, and in no time he was once again approaching the familiar stone ruins. Baekhyun popped his out from behind one of the crumbling walls when he heard Kyungsoo approach. He jogged out to meet Kyungsoo halfway.

  
"Took you long enough," he scoffed. "You really shouldn't be putting pressure on your foot. Maybe we should...are you okay?" Suddenly, his hands were cupping Kyungsoo's face and squishing his cheeks gently. "You look really pale." He observed worriedly. He furrowed his eyebrows the way that always made Kyungsoo laugh and swallowed thickly when he showed no reaction whatsoever. "Kyungsoo? Kyungsoo-yah, are you okay?"

  
He couldn't breathe. When he first approached Baekhyun he opened his mouth to say something and coughed. It felt like something was stuck in his throat and suddenly his mind was flooded with thoughts of _oh my god I'm choking._ Breathing in proved fruitless, as did breathing out. Kyungsoo clawed at his neck, stretching it up as far as he could possibly go as he struggled to take in even a single molecule of air.

  
His lips were starting to take on a blue tinge. "I-" he barely managed to squeeze out. He gasped loudly, trying furiously to force air into his lungs. Baekhyun looked positively horrified. On the outside, nothing looked physically wrong with Kyungsoo, and yet here he was, falling to his knees as his vision began to swim, mouth agape and gasping like a fish out of water, his lungs feeling as if they had been set ablaze.

  
Fumbling with this pants pocket, he finally freed his inhaler and shook it vigorously, so hard in fact that it almost rocketed out of his hand and flew into the air. He ripped the cover off and stuffed one end into his mouth. He pushed the metal canister down with as much force as he could possibly muster, breathed in what he could, and started all over.

  
Meanwhile, Baekhyun felt as if he was going to pass out from all the anxiety. He stood off to the side with his hands tugging his hair, doing absolutely nothing. He felt as if there was nothing he _could_ do. Sure, he had seen Kyungsoo have asthma attacks before, it happened not too long ago in fact, but it had never been this bad. Kyungsoo actually looked like he was about to die. What was he supposed to tell Kyungsoo's parents if their youngest child passed out and never woke up because Baekhyun was an idiot and let him chase him around and around _and_ entered the forest in which they were never ever supposed to go?

  
His eyes swam with tears as he watched Kyungsoo take yet another puff of his inhaler. "Kyungsoo-yah if you don't start breathing properly in the next ten seconds I'm seriously going to give you mouth to mouth," he threatened as he sobbed uncontrollably. He knelt down in front of his best friend. Kyungsoo's chest heaved like he had run a marathon; his shoulders rose and fell like the tides but Baekhyun could only wish for that level of peace right now. With one hand steadying Kyungsoo's shoulder, Baekhyun raised the other and did the only thing he could think of: smack him.

  
Kyungsoo coughed quite honestly like he was hacking up one of his lungs, and then suddenly he was gasping, greedily gulping in mouthful after mouthful of air. He met eyes with Baekhyun, who looked mildly relieved but still scared out of his mind, and Kyungsoo didn't blame him. He was still terrified too, and took a few more puffs of his inhaler just in case, falling over onto the ground and landing with a dull thud, his chest heaving but calming with each full breath of air he was able to take.

  
After a minute or two Kyungsoo cleared his throat, looked at Baekhyun, and attempted to speak. "Woah," was all he could think to say, and even though he still wheezed slightly, it was certainly better than five minutes ago when he wasn't able to utter a single word and plead for help.

  
Baekhyun was livid. " _Woah?"_ he screeched. "You almost die right in front of my eyes and all you can say is _woah?"_ He covered his mouth with his hands, breathing deeply. "Do Kyungsoo, I swear to god-"

  
"Relax," Kyungsoo replied dismissively with a smile, although somewhat breathless. He propped himself up on his elbows and sighed. "Well that was...interesting. I don't think that kind of asthma attack has ever happened before."

  
"You are literally the worst,"

  
Kyungsoo couldn't help but grin. He was silent for a few moments, simply taking the time to calm his breathing, before he sat up cross-legged and stretched his arms above his head. "Race you back to your house?"

  
Baekhyun betrayed no emotion. Using one hand, he drug it slowly down his face, then slapped his cheek a couple of times to make sure that this was, in fact, real, and that he wasn't dreaming his friend saying the stupidest thing on the face of the planet.

  
Kyungsoo was, unfortunately, completely serious. He picked himself up and was a bit wobbly on his feet and completely drained of energy, but was otherwise back to normal. Gazing at the ruins, he kicked a pebble in its direction. "...Maybe we should stay out of the woods from now on," he conceded. Baekhyun was beyond done.

  
"Ya think?!"

  
"Let's race each other out. If I win, I get to play as Crash for the next month. If you win, I'll cook you kimchi spaghetti whenever you want for the next month."

  
"That hardly seems fair," Baekhyun huffed, arms crossed.

  
Kyungsoo shrugged. "We need to be home before our parents come back. Are you coming or not?"

  
"You take pleasure in causing me distress, don't you?"

  
"Nothing makes me happier~"

  
Baekhyun sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose, eyes closed in silent contemplation of why on earth he was friends with such a sadistic being. "Fine. But if you start dying again it's not my fault."

  
Kyungsoo grinned, spun on his heels, and began to run.


End file.
